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They came, they cooked, they won. And now, Trish and Jenn Tirado have a restaurant in the WestGate Mall food court to prove it. Last Sunday, the mother-daughter duo behind Tirado’s Empanadas & More won the second episode of the Food Network show “Food Court Wars.”

“Food Court Wars” takes teams of food entrepreneurs and pits them against each other for a chance to win a yearlong lease on a restaurant space in a mall food court. The Tirado’s team was up against a taco restaurant owner for a space at WestGate Mall in Spartanburg.

The teams had to compete in several areas, including at the mall and at local events. The team that won over more customers would win. In the end, the Puerto Rican-inspired food won out.

“I think we’re still just so overwhelmed with the fact that we won something like this,” Jenn said. “It’s just so crazy there’s no other response than to just laugh at the craziness of it all.”

A few days after the episode aired, Jenn and Trish were still reeling from their win. Though the two actually won during filming in April, they hadn’t been able to speak about it until after the episode aired Sunday evening. Since then, the two have been working nonstop to get everything set for their year in a brick and mortar store. So far, business has been nonstop.

“The cool thing about it is because we have this TV show people are coming out and trying something that they maybe wouldn’t try before,” Jenn said of the exposure. “We’ve got somebody nationally saying “go try this place — it’s really good,” and it’s just going to help us become a better business.”

Tirado’s began last year as a food cart in downtown Greenville. The Tirado family knew they needed to go the next step toward a restaurant if they were going to keep the business going.

Trish and Jenn applied last-minute to “Food Court Wars,” all the while thinking, “they’ll never pick us.” After going through several rounds of interviews they got the call that they had been chosen to compete on the show. The two spent April filming.

“Almost everyone who comes has said we saw you on the Food Network channel we wanted to try it. We’ve had great reviews so far,” Jenn said. “It has been overwhelmingly busy, which is great. It’s crazy.”

The verdict is still out on when the cart will return to downtown Greenville. Perhaps later this year or for special events, Jenn said. For now, the Tirados have their hands full, in the best way possible.